Play the Slate NewsQuiz

With Jeopardy! superchampion Ken Jennings.

Every Friday I’ll be testing your knowledge with 12 challenging questions on the week’s news events, big and small, including happenings in science, sports, politics, and culture both high and low. The questions are multiple-choice, and time is of the essence: You have 30 seconds to answer, and as the seconds tick away, the question’s point value drops from 50 all the way down to zero, so you’ll want to click on your answer as fast as you possibly can. There’s no penalty for an incorrect answer, so feel free to take a guess if your puny human brain fails you.

At the end of the quiz, you’ll be able to compare your score with that of the average contestant, as well as to the score of a Slate-sterwhom I’ve talked into taking the quiz on the record. This week’s contestant is Slate’sbooks columnist, Mark O’Connell, an Irish book critic based in Dublin.

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Think you can ace my quiz and beat O’Connell? Good luck!

The Slate Quiz with quizmaster Ken Jennings

Believe it or not, a tenth of all American electricity generated since 1993 has come from Soviet nukes. A deal struck at the end of the Cold War turned 500 tons of bomb-grade Russian uranium into fuel for nuclear plants, and the last shipment of old warheads shipped this week. Celebrate by seeing what kind of score your brainpower can generate on this week's Slate News Quiz.

Question 1 of 12

"It unifies the Chinese people" and "It makes people funnier" were two of the "surprising benefits" of what, as listed by China's state media on Sunday?

Air pollution in eastern China reached record levels last week, more than 14 times the World Health Organization's recommended safe limits.

Question 2 of 12

This week, regulators finally approved the Volcker Rule, passed by Congress in 2010 in the wake of the financial crisis. What, roughly speaking, is the Volcker Rule?

Question 3 of 12

Pictures circulated this week of first lady Michelle Obama looking distinctly unamused at Nelson Mandela's memorial service, while her husband did what?

The prime ministers of Britain and Denmark also took part in the funereal foto fun.

Question 4 of 12

United Nations-backed French troops are trying to restore order in what country, where the Seleka militia took power in March?

Question 5 of 12

What company hired Mary Barra as a factory floor intern 33 years ago, and this week named her its new CEO?

Barra is the first woman ever to lead one of Detroit's "Big Three" automakers.

Question 6 of 12

On Wednesday, what became the world's first nation to completely legalize the marijuana industry?